Wall Street Journal article on FDNY health exams, Jan 2002

By William Murphy . . “About half or 6,600,. have under- He __ ___ ;. there said there wriS a. ptesuniptlbb only briefly, he ________ said, while _________ oth- _____ and Dan Janison . gone exams that include .psychological -..that aU uniformen memhers of the de- ^'-ars worked there for weeks. STAFF WRITERS About one-half of the Fire Depart C taent personnel -who worked at . the ■ ■ jWorld Trade Center, have undergone the end of January. ■ , ., were being examined. Some ’vVorked ..: gome surely were — and that some fir^ ; complete physical exams and about ” fighters.might have had respiratory' l,600 have respiratory problems, offi­ ’^ problems before Sept, 11. < cials apid Friday, “Given the mushroom cloud arid the .' the problems range from ,mild particulate matter in the air that day, . coughs to severe ailments- that could J it was impossible to be there and-not .. force about 100 fifefighters or more •< be forced to breathe some of that nii.ate- into disabiUty retirement, Fire Departs V. rial. You/couldn’t ■ see? if you;Mere • , nient spokesman Frank Gribbon said. f' tyapped in that,” Gribbon said. J-.; / . . The firefighters union estimates from J.' “Some peo^le have suffered. Severe - 400 to BOO firefighters might be forced. respiratory illness,” he said, but it ■ .to retire for medical reasons, according -was impossible to pinpoint.tnei^vel. to Tom Butler, a spokesman for the Uni- iLPf exposure .’ . ' . ; formed Firefighters Association.^ ...Fire Con -nissioner Thomas- Von . ’ Gribbon said department doctors ■ Essen said ht did riot think any health , nuihber at 100, “maybe up to ’ . problems would lead to increased fer ; • 200>^i..,based on the results of the tiremeht immediately because the fire?. fouTrhour physical examinations. fighters would, wait to see whether ', The fate of medical leave is about 8 ■long-term problems develop. ;•. > percent. Gribbon said, “slightly above - “I think, gerierally, people Who are normal,” The rate was as high as 10 , planning to retire have not started the percent in the early 1990s process yet. . . we’ve seen a slight in- 1. The Fire .Department , said it thinks creMe over the course'of the' whole it has indentified the most serious mejd- year . . % ,” the commissioner Said. ■ c ^I’OOOfoefig^rs, . “People who have something -r ari ii^u- CD E ,^d 2,000 eihergoncy medical techni-- fy,' ja lung problerti -^ won't hi^ 'tfr 3 o clans and paramedics. . ■ ■ ■ 1 ''Si^e<l^hat yet.” ' ,‘ ' .. ■ -.y;,-;?.; o Q CT> "co ■c 00 o CL 5 o 5 o Z 3 0. NfiLOSdCLt) o o I

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